Leavenworth Real Estate – 2007 Year in Review
Real Estate in Leavenworth in 2007 – in a nutshell, prices up, volume down. (While these numbers might change with an additional last minute recording or two, I think the trends will remain the same.)
I have mentioned it before, but as expected 2007 was the Year of the New Condo for Leavenworth. Notable projects included the condos at Icicle Junction (Aspen Suites), the Boulders at Alpensee Strasse, the River Park Homes (affectionately known as the big yellow building), and Ski View on Titus. All these brand new condos certainly brought the price up for the “average” condo. The average condo price was up 45% to $294,000 from 2006s $201,000.
Perhaps more interesting, is what remains. Only 24 condos sold in Leavenworth in 2007, a mere 4 more than in 2006. 49 condominiums remain on the market with a few more projects slated for 2008. The average condo on the market today is $420,000. Does that market exist in Leavenworth? I’m not sure that it does. Only 3 condos sold above $350,000 last year and none above $400,000.
Single family home prices continued to climb in price, while the number of homes sold slowed. The average sales price was up 18% for homes in Leavenworth. The average price is now $415,000 up from $351,000 for 2006.
But price is not the only story. The number of homes sold is down 23% from the following year. The time on market is longer as well. The average days on market for a home in Leavenworth is now 139 days, up 30 days from 2006 when it only took 109 days. Sellers continue to get approximately 97% of their listing price as the final sales price.
Here’s one positive and surprising trend. All the “Price Reduced” signs you see around the neighborhood – not indicative of the market. The average price reduction for single family homes in Leavenworth actually dropped in 2007. In 2006, the average home seller in Leavenworth dropped their price 7.06%, in 2007 that number dropped to 6.8%. This number coupled with raising prices tells me that Leavenworth home owners remain confident about the market, despite gloomy real estate news on a national level.
What will 2008 bring to the Leavenworth real estate market? I think much depends on external forces. What will the U.S. economy do? How will the stock market fare? How will the technology companies like Microsoft, Adobe, and Nintendo do?
I tend to think we will see a slight increase in prices with longer market times and about the same number of homes sold in 2008 as in 2007. (Check back in January 2009 to see if I’m right.)
